targeting our guf – body, or our neshama – soul? If it targets our body, we don’t fight, as our body belongs to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We’re told to safeguard that body, and if an external force seeks to destroy it – we turn to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and say, “I’d like to preserve my body, but this is out of my control. I turn to you, the ‘ba’al habayit’ of this body.”
Our holy neshama, however, was entrusted to us by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If someone seeks to attack and uproot it, that is a ma’aseh satan and it becomes our war to fight because that neshama is ours.
The battle of Chanukah was one against our neshama. They didn’t look to kill us, but rather to uproot our Torah and Yiddishkeit and have us become one of them. If that is what they wanted – we fight back even against all odds and at grave risk. Once victorious, we don’t celebrate with food because we don’t feed our neshama burekas and sweets! The neshama is fed with mitzvot and spirituality and is thus rewarded with lighting candles, reciting Hallel, and learning Torah!
The story of Purim involved a decree against our guf. Haman didn’t seek to erase our religion and customs but rather to eradicate our physical presence. Had we agreed to move to the other side of the world, he’d let us be not caring what religious practices we observed way out of sight. If this is what he wanted – we daven. We gather everyone, fast, and turn to Hakadosh Baruch Hu with our pleas for salvation. Once victorious, we celebrate with food because that is exactly what you feed the guf. The body on its own would not know what to do with any assigned mitzvot. But a grand party featuring meat, wine, desserts, and delicacies? Gevaldig! That’s the language our guf speaks.
Let’s now backtrack to Bnei Yisrael leaving Egypt. What is it the Egyptians wanted? They wanted to kill us, via a return to slavery and torture. They had nothing against our religion, only against our physical freedom. How did Bnei Yisrael respond to this decree against their guf? They turned to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and davened. What is it that Amalek then wanted? Amalek didn’t want anything from the guf. It was a holy war:
בַּ עֲמָ לֵק מִ לְ חָ מָ ה לַ ה' – The Lord will have war with Amalek. It was a battle against our souls and the redemption of Mashiach, and as a result – we went to war.
Where does this master principle originate? The father of this idea is Avraham Avinu! When the famine started, and they went down to Egypt, Pharoah had no interest in forcing Sarah (or Avraham) to worship idols. It was for her body that she was taken captive. Avraham understood this and responded with tefilla. When a guf is threatened, you don’t throw sand or arrows. You turn to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and daven.
But when Lot arrives and is taken hostage, what is it that Amraphel (Nimrod) wanted. The Zohar tells us he wanted to lure Avraham into the battle and kill him so Shem Shamayim would no longer permeate the world. Avraham saw and understood this battle for Kiddush Hashem and immediately responded with a fight. And what did Avraham receive in return at the fight’s end? The king of Sedom offered him riches, but he did not partake. When the battle is for the neshama, we don’t take riches; we take mitzvot. The Gemara tells us (Sotah 17a):
נַעַל זָכוּ בָּנָיו לִשְׁתֵּי בִּשְׂכַר שׁ ֶאָמַר אַבְרָ הָם אָבִינוּ אִם מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךִין מִצְוֹת חוּט שׁ ֶל תְּכֵלֶת וּרְ צוּעָה שׁ ֶל תְּפִל
As reward for that which our Avraham said: “I will not take a thread nor a shoe strap”, his children merited two mitzvot: The thread of techelet on tzitzit and the strap of tefillin.
Furthermore, Hakadosh Baruch said to Avraham, “You fought for half a night, so I will give the other half of the night to your children”. That other half of the night is the Pesach seder night, where our focus is on לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַ לֵּל – showing gratitude and giving praise to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
During these tests in our parsha, Avraham Avinu established when to go to war, when to daven, when to indulge, and when to respond with spirituality. Bnei Yisrael maintained this doctrine during their exodus from Egypt, their triumph in Shushan, their victory over the Greeks, and in each generation’s struggle to follow in Avraham’s footsteps of spreading the Name of Hakadosh Baruch Hu throughout the world. It all began with the battle of the four kings, which the Ramban says teaches us that four kingdoms – Bavel, Madai, Yavan, and Edom – will arise to rule the world and enslave Bnei Yisrael, but Avraham’s children will prevail. As the Midrash says (Bereshit Rabbah 42:2), just as we began with four kings, we will conclude with the fall of four kingdoms, speedily in our days, אָמֵן.
